Ameer Hamzah :
Hazrat Muhammad (SM), son of Abdullah, son of Abdul Muttalib, was born in a noble family in Mecca in 570 AD. At that time, the world was passing through Dark Age from the ethics and morality point of view.
Historians identified 100 years (510-610) as Dark Age. Among them are Nicholson and Hitti. During that time, there was no rule of law. ‘Might is right’ was the principle. People plunged into ignorance, superstition, incivility and sins of all kinds. There was no respect for women. They were always treated inhumanly, sold as per whims, and no food was given for days together. Sons could marry their stepmothers.
The clans fought for years over trifling matter. As for example, Banu Bakr and Banu Taghliq fought for 40 years over a camel. The war between Abs and Jubain lasted for several centuries centering trifling matter. According to Historian Gabon, about 1,700 wars were fought during the Dark Age.
The people of the city loved him very much for his unique image, truthfulness and honesty. The people of Mecca were proud of him and called him AI-Amin (The Trusted). When he was just 14 years old, he in association with the like minded established a social organization named Hilful-Fuzl. The prime aims and objectives of the organization were:
1. To help establish peace, discipline and security in the country,
2. To help the weak, the orphan, the pauper and the destitute,
3. To fight against the oppressors and to stand by the oppressed,
4. To help establish friendship and fraternity among the people,
5. To protect the lives and properties of the foreigners.
Allah granted prophethood to Hazrat Muhammad (SM) in the year 610 A.D when he was 40 years old. He was asleep or in a trance when he heard a voice say: Read! He said: I cannot read. The voice again said: Read! He said: I cannot read! A third time, the voice commanded: Read! He said: What can I read? The voice said:
I. Read: In the name of thy Lord Who creates.
2. Creates man from a clot.
3. Read: And it is thy Lord, the most Bountiful,
4. Who teaches man by the pen.
5. Teaches man what he knew not.
The Prophet after sometime went out of the cave on to the hillside and heard the same inspiring voice to say: 0 Muhammad! Thou art the Messenger of Allah, and I am Jibreel. Then he raised his eyes and saw the Archangel, in the likeness of man, standing in the sky above the horizon. And again the voice said: 0 Muhammad! Thou art the Messenger of Allah, and I am Jibreel. Muhammad stood quite still, turning away his face from the brightness of the vision, but whithersoever he looked, he saw the Archangel confronting him.
The Prophet remained thus a long time till at length Jibreel vanished, and then returned to Hazrat Khadiza (RA) at home. He was trembling. The Prophet said: Cover me with a blanket. Khadiza said: What did happen to you? Why are you sweating even in the coldness of night?
After a while the Prophet narrated everything of what happened in the Cave of the Mountain Hera at a short distance from Mecca and said, ” I do not know whether I shall be able to perform the great duty conferred upon me by Allah. Highly intelligent Khadiza said: Allah will surely make you victorious. It is because you seize all the seven virtues a man should have. These are: 1) Keeping cordial relation with kindred, 11) truthfulness, 111) protecting trusts, 1V) arranging food, clothing and shelter for orphans, widows, blinds, crippled, and distress, V) solving unemployment, V1) hospitality and V11) helping the natural calamity affected people.
Khadiza lost no time to return to Islam. In this connection, it is imperative to say that the night Allah began to reveal the Quran is called the Blessed Night. It is also called the Grand Night, the Night of Power or the Night of Fate. According to the Quran (V: 44/2-5, 97/4)), Allah decrees the fate of every human being on this night for the next one year.
His farewell speech delivered in the year 632 has been recognized as the Magna Carta of human rights. Therein he said that Islam does not discriminate between a Muslim and a non-Muslim, between a black and a white, between a master of a family and his servant, and between man and woman.
The Prophet said:
1. What you eat and what you wear, share with your servant(s).
2. Allah would never forgive the oppressor(s) irrespective of his religious belief.
3.Paradise lies at the feet of mother.
4.No marriage is valid without the consent of the bride.
5.A good man does not abuse his wife.
6. Whoso eats to his fill twice a day, he cannot enter the World of Angels.
He further said:
1.Pay the wages to the workers before their sweat is dried up,
2.Appoint not anyone in a job before his wage/salary is fixed,
3.The workers are part of production. So, give them their due share and also part of profit.
4. He is not my disciple who eats to his fill, but his neighbours starve,
5. He is not a Muslim whose hand and tongue afflict other people,
6. Feed the poor, attend the sick and release the (innocent) prisoners,
7. Work for the well being of the community as a whole,
8. 1t is incumbent upon every Muslim man and woman to acquire knowledge,
9. Unfortunate, real unfortunate is he who takes varieties of food, wears varieties of dresses, and loves discourse.
Islam is not the sum-total of few-worships. It has got its own philosophy, socio-economic and political structure. It works for economic emancipation of the people and spiritual salvation in the Hereafter.
It aims at establishing such a society, as no man shall exploit another, and opposes concentration of wealth into the hands of the few at the cost of the many.
Islam does not approve the killing of an innocent, or persecution. It does not recommend for aggression, but right to self-defence and independent of will.
Upon his arrival in Yathrib (Madina) in June 622 A.D., the Prophet’s first concern, as a ruler, was to lay down a constitution for the newly established Republic of Madina. Accordingly, he in consultation with the representatives of the Jews and the Christians drafted a constitution, history calling it ‘The Charter of Madina’. It contains 47 articles and is recognized as the first ‘written constitution in the world’.
The leaders of all the religious communities, including the Christians and the Jews, living in Madina accepted the Prophet as the Chief Executive of the newly established republic. It was agreed that all the communities who put signatures in the constitution and other who did not sign till that time would live in peace and harmony and would resist the aggressors united and shall not enter secret deal with the common enemy.
The Prophet had to fight the enemies either leading the war by himself or sending the troops under the trusted commanders. In 625 A.D., Abu Sufian led a huge army of 10,000 men to destroy Islam. Hearing it, the Prophet decided to face the enemy outside the city. But one of his trusted companions, Salman (RA), a Persian by birth, advised him to dig a trench on three sides of Madina, posting strong guards in the rear against infiltration. History recognises it as the ‘Battle of Trench’. From that time, ‘Trench’ in the battlefield has become a significant strategy. The Prophet accepted the counsel of Salman by which he made it clear that good decision is always welcome.
Islam values good quality and merit, and not superiority of race, blood and kinship, in the field of the appointment of the State officials. The Prophet Muhammad (SM) sent a small contingent of 3,000 troops to defend the Syrian border against a large Roman Army of about one hundred thousand. He delegated power to his troops to select their own commander in the event of death of his panel commanders headed by Zaid-bin-Harith, a freedman. The other two were Jafar-bin-Abu Talib and Abdullah Rahi.
Prophet Muhammad (SM), thus, practised democracy, even in the war field. The troops chose Khalid-bin-Walid as their commander after the deaths of the panel commanders.
The Prophet divided the Republic of Madinah into ten regions namely Madinah, Mecca, Khayber, Taif, Sana, Yemen, Hazramaut, Oman, Bahrain and a Sub-tribe area. The Prophet effected administrative and socio-economic reforms in order to improve the economic condition of the people, to alleviate poverty adopting rehabilitation scheme with fund collected from the rich, and to ameliorate their ethics and morality. The chief executives of the regions were called ‘Walie’ (governors) whose prime responsibility was to collect taxes and to administer justice in all spheres of life. Among the governors, Hazrat Ali (RA) bin Abu Talib and Hazrat Muaz bin Jabal (RA) were the most prominent. The two most wanted qualifications of a ruler are physique and wisdom (Ref:
AI Quran, Chapter 2, Verse No. 247).
The heads of revenues were Zakat (poor-tax @2.50 percent annually), Kharaj (crop-tax), Zizia (security-tax payable by the rich non-Muslims), war booties and AI-Fe (land-tax payable by the feudal lords of the conquered countries). The difference between Zakat and Zizia is that the former is to be paid by the members of the Muslim community having a savings of Taka 30,000 in cash and kind any time in a year while the Zizia is payable by every non-Muslim).
The Prophet had no regular Army. But he was able to muster a big Army in a short notice in the event of invasion by the enemies. He also formed State Intelligence Branch. The Prophet stressed on learning. At the end of the Battle of Badr, he set the conditions for the prisoners that they would be released subject to giving the Muslim men and women lettered knowledge. At the time of departure for Yemen, Hazrat Muhammad (SM) asked his newly appointed Governor Muaz bin Jabal (RA) as to how would he govern the province?
Muaz replied: In case of any problem arising, I shall first seek solution in the Quran.
“If thou do not find clarification therein,” the Prophet asked.
Muaz said: I shall search for it in your traditions.
“If that too has no answer,” the Prophet inquired.
Muaz said, “I shall exercise my wisdom within the framework of AI-Quran and Sunnah.”
The Prophet patted on his back and said, “Let it be the model of administration for the rulers of the world.”
The Prophet predicted on a very few occasions. One of them was about Ammar-bin- Yasir (RA), his trusted lieutenant. Towards the closing stage of the construction of the Mashjid-i-Nababi, Saad-bin-Abi Wakkas said, “Each of us was carrying one brick, but Ammar alone was carrying two. Seeing it, the Prophet began brushing dust from the body of Ammar and said: Sadly the rebels will kill thee. Thou wilt call them to the paradise, but they will invite you to the hell.
The prediction proved true. Troops of Muawiyah killed him in the Battle of Siffin in 657 A.D. It is imperative to say that Ammar was with Hazrat Ali (RA), who was defending the Truth and safeguarding the solidarity of the Republic of Madina.
One day the Prophet was discussing with a group of his sahabies (companions). Just then there sauntered a man. He walked straight to the Prophet and sat very close to him, touching his knees.
The stranger asked the Prophet: What is Faith?
The Prohet said: To believe in Allah, His angels, his Prophets, his Books, the Judgment Day to receive rewards for doing good deeds, and to receive punishment for committing crimes, and that Allah decides everything from before.
The stranger asked the second question: What is Islam?
The Prophet He said: To believe and to make it public, there is no god but Allah and that Hazrat Muhammad is His Prophet, to abide by the Commandment of Allah, to stay from thinking someone equal to Him), to say prayers five times a day, to pay Zakat (poor-tax), to fast for one month a year and to perform Hajj.
The stranger put the third question to the Prophet: What is Ihsan?
He said: To worship Allah with such devotion as if you were seeing Him. Although you see Him not, He sees you.
The stranger asked his last question: When will the Resurrection Day arrive?
To this question, the Prophet said: Thou know better than I know.
Thereafter, the stranger went away. A few minutes later, Hazrat Muhammad (SM) told his companions present there, look for him and bring him back. But none found him. To this, the Prophet said: “He is Jibreel, who came here to teach you about Faith, Islam and Ihsan.”
One day a man came to the Prophet and said: Shall I be lodged in the Paradise? The Prophet questioned: What do you do? The man said: I pray my prayer five times a day, pay Zakat @ 2.50 percent per annum, fast for one month a year, already performed Hajj, help others in distress and guard against evils. The Prophet said: Continue doing those.
The Prophet gave special emphasis on learning of the meaning of the Quran, writing and reading and grammar.
Many non-Muslim historians praised the administrative and the economic reforms of Hazrat Muhammad (SM), paid him rich tributes. Historian Josephine Hale said, “Muhammad was such a personality in absence of whom the world would have remained incomplete. He is comparable only with himself.
Historian Leonardo said, “If anyone in this world has seen and known God, if anyone in this world has done good to mankind, it is Muhammad.” The economic and the political reforms affected by him were so brilliant that George Barnard Shaw, an English poet, said in his book ‘The Genuine Islam,’ “I have studied him (Muhammad)–the wonderful man–and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the Saviour of Humanity.”
In the Quran, Allah attributed to Hazrat Muhammad as “Of tremendous morality” (V68/4), “Prophet unto mankind” (V-4179), “Seal of the Prophets” (33/40), “Mercy unto mankind” (V -21/107) and “The Lamp spreading light” (V -33/46).
Hazrat Muhammad (SM), son of Abdullah, son of Abdul Muttalib, was born in a noble family in Mecca in 570 AD. At that time, the world was passing through Dark Age from the ethics and morality point of view.
Historians identified 100 years (510-610) as Dark Age. Among them are Nicholson and Hitti. During that time, there was no rule of law. ‘Might is right’ was the principle. People plunged into ignorance, superstition, incivility and sins of all kinds. There was no respect for women. They were always treated inhumanly, sold as per whims, and no food was given for days together. Sons could marry their stepmothers.
The clans fought for years over trifling matter. As for example, Banu Bakr and Banu Taghliq fought for 40 years over a camel. The war between Abs and Jubain lasted for several centuries centering trifling matter. According to Historian Gabon, about 1,700 wars were fought during the Dark Age.
The people of the city loved him very much for his unique image, truthfulness and honesty. The people of Mecca were proud of him and called him AI-Amin (The Trusted). When he was just 14 years old, he in association with the like minded established a social organization named Hilful-Fuzl. The prime aims and objectives of the organization were:
1. To help establish peace, discipline and security in the country,
2. To help the weak, the orphan, the pauper and the destitute,
3. To fight against the oppressors and to stand by the oppressed,
4. To help establish friendship and fraternity among the people,
5. To protect the lives and properties of the foreigners.
Allah granted prophethood to Hazrat Muhammad (SM) in the year 610 A.D when he was 40 years old. He was asleep or in a trance when he heard a voice say: Read! He said: I cannot read. The voice again said: Read! He said: I cannot read! A third time, the voice commanded: Read! He said: What can I read? The voice said:
I. Read: In the name of thy Lord Who creates.
2. Creates man from a clot.
3. Read: And it is thy Lord, the most Bountiful,
4. Who teaches man by the pen.
5. Teaches man what he knew not.
The Prophet after sometime went out of the cave on to the hillside and heard the same inspiring voice to say: 0 Muhammad! Thou art the Messenger of Allah, and I am Jibreel. Then he raised his eyes and saw the Archangel, in the likeness of man, standing in the sky above the horizon. And again the voice said: 0 Muhammad! Thou art the Messenger of Allah, and I am Jibreel. Muhammad stood quite still, turning away his face from the brightness of the vision, but whithersoever he looked, he saw the Archangel confronting him.
The Prophet remained thus a long time till at length Jibreel vanished, and then returned to Hazrat Khadiza (RA) at home. He was trembling. The Prophet said: Cover me with a blanket. Khadiza said: What did happen to you? Why are you sweating even in the coldness of night?
After a while the Prophet narrated everything of what happened in the Cave of the Mountain Hera at a short distance from Mecca and said, ” I do not know whether I shall be able to perform the great duty conferred upon me by Allah. Highly intelligent Khadiza said: Allah will surely make you victorious. It is because you seize all the seven virtues a man should have. These are: 1) Keeping cordial relation with kindred, 11) truthfulness, 111) protecting trusts, 1V) arranging food, clothing and shelter for orphans, widows, blinds, crippled, and distress, V) solving unemployment, V1) hospitality and V11) helping the natural calamity affected people.
Khadiza lost no time to return to Islam. In this connection, it is imperative to say that the night Allah began to reveal the Quran is called the Blessed Night. It is also called the Grand Night, the Night of Power or the Night of Fate. According to the Quran (V: 44/2-5, 97/4)), Allah decrees the fate of every human being on this night for the next one year.
His farewell speech delivered in the year 632 has been recognized as the Magna Carta of human rights. Therein he said that Islam does not discriminate between a Muslim and a non-Muslim, between a black and a white, between a master of a family and his servant, and between man and woman.
The Prophet said:
1. What you eat and what you wear, share with your servant(s).
2. Allah would never forgive the oppressor(s) irrespective of his religious belief.
3.Paradise lies at the feet of mother.
4.No marriage is valid without the consent of the bride.
5.A good man does not abuse his wife.
6. Whoso eats to his fill twice a day, he cannot enter the World of Angels.
He further said:
1.Pay the wages to the workers before their sweat is dried up,
2.Appoint not anyone in a job before his wage/salary is fixed,
3.The workers are part of production. So, give them their due share and also part of profit.
4. He is not my disciple who eats to his fill, but his neighbours starve,
5. He is not a Muslim whose hand and tongue afflict other people,
6. Feed the poor, attend the sick and release the (innocent) prisoners,
7. Work for the well being of the community as a whole,
8. 1t is incumbent upon every Muslim man and woman to acquire knowledge,
9. Unfortunate, real unfortunate is he who takes varieties of food, wears varieties of dresses, and loves discourse.
Islam is not the sum-total of few-worships. It has got its own philosophy, socio-economic and political structure. It works for economic emancipation of the people and spiritual salvation in the Hereafter.
It aims at establishing such a society, as no man shall exploit another, and opposes concentration of wealth into the hands of the few at the cost of the many.
Islam does not approve the killing of an innocent, or persecution. It does not recommend for aggression, but right to self-defence and independent of will.
Upon his arrival in Yathrib (Madina) in June 622 A.D., the Prophet’s first concern, as a ruler, was to lay down a constitution for the newly established Republic of Madina. Accordingly, he in consultation with the representatives of the Jews and the Christians drafted a constitution, history calling it ‘The Charter of Madina’. It contains 47 articles and is recognized as the first ‘written constitution in the world’.
The leaders of all the religious communities, including the Christians and the Jews, living in Madina accepted the Prophet as the Chief Executive of the newly established republic. It was agreed that all the communities who put signatures in the constitution and other who did not sign till that time would live in peace and harmony and would resist the aggressors united and shall not enter secret deal with the common enemy.
The Prophet had to fight the enemies either leading the war by himself or sending the troops under the trusted commanders. In 625 A.D., Abu Sufian led a huge army of 10,000 men to destroy Islam. Hearing it, the Prophet decided to face the enemy outside the city. But one of his trusted companions, Salman (RA), a Persian by birth, advised him to dig a trench on three sides of Madina, posting strong guards in the rear against infiltration. History recognises it as the ‘Battle of Trench’. From that time, ‘Trench’ in the battlefield has become a significant strategy. The Prophet accepted the counsel of Salman by which he made it clear that good decision is always welcome.
Islam values good quality and merit, and not superiority of race, blood and kinship, in the field of the appointment of the State officials. The Prophet Muhammad (SM) sent a small contingent of 3,000 troops to defend the Syrian border against a large Roman Army of about one hundred thousand. He delegated power to his troops to select their own commander in the event of death of his panel commanders headed by Zaid-bin-Harith, a freedman. The other two were Jafar-bin-Abu Talib and Abdullah Rahi.
Prophet Muhammad (SM), thus, practised democracy, even in the war field. The troops chose Khalid-bin-Walid as their commander after the deaths of the panel commanders.
The Prophet divided the Republic of Madinah into ten regions namely Madinah, Mecca, Khayber, Taif, Sana, Yemen, Hazramaut, Oman, Bahrain and a Sub-tribe area. The Prophet effected administrative and socio-economic reforms in order to improve the economic condition of the people, to alleviate poverty adopting rehabilitation scheme with fund collected from the rich, and to ameliorate their ethics and morality. The chief executives of the regions were called ‘Walie’ (governors) whose prime responsibility was to collect taxes and to administer justice in all spheres of life. Among the governors, Hazrat Ali (RA) bin Abu Talib and Hazrat Muaz bin Jabal (RA) were the most prominent. The two most wanted qualifications of a ruler are physique and wisdom (Ref:
AI Quran, Chapter 2, Verse No. 247).
The heads of revenues were Zakat (poor-tax @2.50 percent annually), Kharaj (crop-tax), Zizia (security-tax payable by the rich non-Muslims), war booties and AI-Fe (land-tax payable by the feudal lords of the conquered countries). The difference between Zakat and Zizia is that the former is to be paid by the members of the Muslim community having a savings of Taka 30,000 in cash and kind any time in a year while the Zizia is payable by every non-Muslim).
The Prophet had no regular Army. But he was able to muster a big Army in a short notice in the event of invasion by the enemies. He also formed State Intelligence Branch. The Prophet stressed on learning. At the end of the Battle of Badr, he set the conditions for the prisoners that they would be released subject to giving the Muslim men and women lettered knowledge. At the time of departure for Yemen, Hazrat Muhammad (SM) asked his newly appointed Governor Muaz bin Jabal (RA) as to how would he govern the province?
Muaz replied: In case of any problem arising, I shall first seek solution in the Quran.
“If thou do not find clarification therein,” the Prophet asked.
Muaz said: I shall search for it in your traditions.
“If that too has no answer,” the Prophet inquired.
Muaz said, “I shall exercise my wisdom within the framework of AI-Quran and Sunnah.”
The Prophet patted on his back and said, “Let it be the model of administration for the rulers of the world.”
The Prophet predicted on a very few occasions. One of them was about Ammar-bin- Yasir (RA), his trusted lieutenant. Towards the closing stage of the construction of the Mashjid-i-Nababi, Saad-bin-Abi Wakkas said, “Each of us was carrying one brick, but Ammar alone was carrying two. Seeing it, the Prophet began brushing dust from the body of Ammar and said: Sadly the rebels will kill thee. Thou wilt call them to the paradise, but they will invite you to the hell.
The prediction proved true. Troops of Muawiyah killed him in the Battle of Siffin in 657 A.D. It is imperative to say that Ammar was with Hazrat Ali (RA), who was defending the Truth and safeguarding the solidarity of the Republic of Madina.
One day the Prophet was discussing with a group of his sahabies (companions). Just then there sauntered a man. He walked straight to the Prophet and sat very close to him, touching his knees.
The stranger asked the Prophet: What is Faith?
The Prohet said: To believe in Allah, His angels, his Prophets, his Books, the Judgment Day to receive rewards for doing good deeds, and to receive punishment for committing crimes, and that Allah decides everything from before.
The stranger asked the second question: What is Islam?
The Prophet He said: To believe and to make it public, there is no god but Allah and that Hazrat Muhammad is His Prophet, to abide by the Commandment of Allah, to stay from thinking someone equal to Him), to say prayers five times a day, to pay Zakat (poor-tax), to fast for one month a year and to perform Hajj.
The stranger put the third question to the Prophet: What is Ihsan?
He said: To worship Allah with such devotion as if you were seeing Him. Although you see Him not, He sees you.
The stranger asked his last question: When will the Resurrection Day arrive?
To this question, the Prophet said: Thou know better than I know.
Thereafter, the stranger went away. A few minutes later, Hazrat Muhammad (SM) told his companions present there, look for him and bring him back. But none found him. To this, the Prophet said: “He is Jibreel, who came here to teach you about Faith, Islam and Ihsan.”
One day a man came to the Prophet and said: Shall I be lodged in the Paradise? The Prophet questioned: What do you do? The man said: I pray my prayer five times a day, pay Zakat @ 2.50 percent per annum, fast for one month a year, already performed Hajj, help others in distress and guard against evils. The Prophet said: Continue doing those.
The Prophet gave special emphasis on learning of the meaning of the Quran, writing and reading and grammar.
Many non-Muslim historians praised the administrative and the economic reforms of Hazrat Muhammad (SM), paid him rich tributes. Historian Josephine Hale said, “Muhammad was such a personality in absence of whom the world would have remained incomplete. He is comparable only with himself.
Historian Leonardo said, “If anyone in this world has seen and known God, if anyone in this world has done good to mankind, it is Muhammad.” The economic and the political reforms affected by him were so brilliant that George Barnard Shaw, an English poet, said in his book ‘The Genuine Islam,’ “I have studied him (Muhammad)–the wonderful man–and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the Saviour of Humanity.”
In the Quran, Allah attributed to Hazrat Muhammad as “Of tremendous morality” (V68/4), “Prophet unto mankind” (V-4179), “Seal of the Prophets” (33/40), “Mercy unto mankind” (V -21/107) and “The Lamp spreading light” (V -33/46).
